China's Mixue leads store count for popular milk tea beverage in Vietnam

Chinese affordable ice cream and tea franchise Mixue recently opened its 1,000th store in Vietnam after arriving in the country in 2018, becoming the biggest beverage brand in Vietnam in terms of stores.

Hanoi is considered the center of Mixue's operations in the country, followed by other northern areas such as Bac Ninh province and Hai Phong city. Mixue is less popular in the southern region.

Mixue’s success in Vietnam is attributed to its franchise model with affordable costs and a quick payback period of 10-16 months for investors, according to iPOS.vn, a Vietnamese provider of restaurant management solutions. Other advantages include a strong marketing strategy with trendy advertisements and brand recognition thanks to the prime locations of its stores, iPOS.vn added.

iPOS.vn's data shows that Phuc Long Coffee & Tea, a local favorite acquired by Masan Group, is in second position. As the end of 2022, the brand had 132 flagship and mini stores and 798 kiosks within WinCommerce supermarkets and convenience stores, according to Masan Group’s annual report for 2022.

Last year, Phuc Long recorded a revenue of VND1.58 trillion ($67.15 million), recording earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of VND195 billion ($8.29 million).

Masan is looking to develop Phuc Long into the number one tea & coffee brand in Vietnam with 2,000 kiosks in 2022. However, Masan admitted the plan had failed after it had to close 150 kiosks in the second half of last year.

With 597, Highlands Coffee is in third position in terms of number of stores, despite its leading position regarding revenue. It posted a record-high revenue of VND2.2 trillion ($93.52 million) in 2019, and a post-tax profit of VND55 billion ($2.34 million).

When the Covid-19 pandemic began, its performance went down to a revenue of VND2.14 trillion ($90.97 million), and a post-tax profit of VND79.5 billion ($3.38 million) in 2020.

In 2021, for the first time in eight years, Highlands Coffee recorded a post-tax loss of VND19 billion ($808,100), while its revenue decreased to VND1.73 trillion ($73.53 million).

Starbucks Coffee, the global brand, entered Vietnam with its first store in Ho Chi Minh City in February 2013, and it had 87 stores in seven provinces and cities at the end of 2022. HCMC is its biggest market with 50 stores. The brand plans to expand its network to at least 100 stores this year.

Foreign, domestic brands leave

However, success has not been seen across the market. Taiwanese brand Ten Ren withdrew from the Vietnamese market in August 2019 after two years. The franchise, brought to Vietnam by local café chain The Coffee House, admitted its business model did not meet customers' expectations.

The KAfe, a Vietnamese startup, raised $5.5 million in 2015, becoming a leading brand, only to close down after a year. Dao Chi Anh, the founder, attributed the failure to quality management not catching up with its expansion.

New York Dessert Café (NYDC) made its debut in Vietnam in 2009 with the ambition of opening 20 stores in five years. It left Vietnam in July 2016 amid fierce compeition.

Entering Vietnam in 2016, Australian brand Gloria Jean’s Coffees reached six stores in the Southeast Asian nation after six years. In April 2017, it withdrew from the market.

Vietnam ranks third out of six countries that spend the most money on bubble tea and similar ‘new tea’ drinks in Southeast Asia, with $362 million per year, according to Singaporean consulting firm Momentum Works and payment startup Qlub.

The couontry’s food & beverage (F&B) market could grow 18.26% from $25.97 billion in 2022 to $30.71 billion in 2023, according to a report by iPOS.vn.

It pointed out the F&B market rebounded strongly in 2022, even exceeding the pre-pandemic level in 2019. The sector's revenue fell from $24.6 billion in pre-pandemic 2019 to $21.88 billion in 2020, $18.63 billion in 2021, and $25.97 billion in 2022.